In March, I decided to go to San Diego for a vacation and decided to try out the premium economy product that Alaska Airlines had to offer. Considering Top Gun Maverick comes out this month, what better way to ride the hype train by writing a trip report about my flight down to Fightertown USA? And I think it’s safe to say that the product on this seat wasn’t the refurbished product that I expected after my last trip to San Francisco. I’ll go over my issues in this post below.
Seattle Tacoma International Airport
When I arrived at SeaTac, I arrived 5 hours early thinking I was going to just check in my bag and just take in some planespotting. Unfortunately, I had to wait an additional hour before I can check in my luggage. Thankfully the weather was nice, so I was able to do some rooftop planespotting to pass the time. After going through security, I decided to get a breakfast sandwich from Diletante and a latte and take in the beautiful views of the tarmac at SeaTac.
After that, I decided to check out the SubPop store and saw some vinyls that they had in store. After I fulfilled my grunge craving, I decided to check out the N gate to go in depth to see how the project was progressing. And let me say that the N terminal still amazes me and I decided to check out what flights fly from there. Unfortunately, my flight wouldn’t leave from that specific terminal and would have to leave at the D Gates. It was cramped and didn’t have as good of a view of the tarmac. But I was able to settle down into my seat and let me say, I was disappointed.
The Flight
I settled in seat 8A in premium economy and I was surprised that the hard product on this flight was I hate to say it, out of date. While just like the recent hard product Alaska offered was designed with practicality in mind, this one wasn’t. For example, there was no flap to put your IPad up if you were going to use Alaska’s streaming service to watch a movie or a TV show. The legroom was great as expected from premium economy so I wasn’t too bothered by that. However considering that Alaska committed to retrofitting their 737 fleet, I expected more from the carrier.
The service however was a different story. Again, Alaska shows their commitment to making their customers happy and the service was friendly and attentive. They even joked about the mask mandate at the time saying “we are just as tired as you guys” and it definitely lightened the mood. But the real highlight for me was the descent into San Diego with the sun setting on the Southern California coastline. It was one of the most scenic descents I’ve ever experienced in my life. It reminded me too much of the opening scene in Top Gun when Maverick had to help Cougar land on the carrier after his panic attack. All that was missing to ice the cake on that landing was Kenny Loggins singing “Danger Zone” in the background. But nevertheless, it was an amazing landing into the golden state.
Final Verdict
Despite my issues, I still enjoyed my flight down to San Diego and I’ll say it again, I love that I’m back in the sky again and I don’t take things like this for granted. But I need to judge this on an admittedly subjective scientific “Jamscore” (the Jetsetting Jam equivalent of Jeb Brooks’ Jebscore) to rate this flight.
Terminal: While I loved the N terminal, if I took off from here, I would definitely have given 5 stars. Unfortunately, the gate I took off from was cramped and hopefully the Port of Seattle can fix this issue. (2.5/5)
Seat: While there was a charger and USB port to charge your devices, unfortunately the seat was worse for wear and the hard product needed to be refurbished if Alaska is going to remain competitive. (3/5)
Food/Drink: As expected like with the last flight from SFO, you only have a snack box and a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. (5/5)
Crew: Again, Alaska has a crew that’s always attentive and every time I fly Alaska, I never had a bad experience with the flight attendants and pilots. (5/5)
That makes my overall score for Alaska’s flight to San Diego a 15.5 out of 20. But what do you guys think of Alaska’s premium economy product. Be sure to let me know in the comments below and keep looking to the sky! And be sure to stay tuned for my trip report for the return flight to continue Top Gun month!
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